Courage to Soar

An Olympic Gold medalist shows how she came to be one of the top athletes in the world.

Many Olympic athletes know from a very early age that they want to go for the gold. Simone Biles start in the world of gymnastics came about in a rather unconventional way.

She was born in Ohio but had a rocky start. Her mom wasn’t able to take care of her and her siblings. She and her younger sister were eventually adopted by her grandparents, who she considers mom and dad. One day, her daycare took a field trip to a local gym. It was quickly obvious to all those at the gym that she had God-given talent and passion for the sport of gymnastics. Through years of hard work, her family was her rock keeping her focused and positive and also helping her to enjoy the thing she loved most. Along the way there were some highs and lows and through it all Simone continued to look to God for guidance and rely on her family as she learned some of the hardest lessons in life.

It is nice to read a story of someone so accomplished and see how they have stayed grounded as well as understand the difficulties they have faced. When you look at many of these Olympic athletes that are still so young, it can make any ordinary person feel that their accomplishments might not amount to much. We all have to remember that just because we don’t have gold medals, the things we do in life are important nonetheless. Simone Biles shows that she is normal in many ways. Throughout her years of training she had her bad mood moments and even went through a bratty phase. There were times she didn’t perform as well as she would have liked, but she never let it keep her down. During those moments, she found the courage to get up and try again. She attributes a lot of her success to her family and coaches that continued to push her to always reach her full potential.

I enjoyed the way the book was written giving a real glimpse inside her life and the bad moments. She didn’t just gloss over the negative aspects of life and focus on the good. This book goes under the category of inspiration and it lives up to that. There is a lot of inspiration that can be taken away from the stories here. I love that she talks about only being four foot eight inches tall and that’s ok. I’m short and sometimes it can make you feel invisible, not something that can be said about Simone Biles. She is a good role model for young girls to look up to.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend to fans of Biles along with those that enjoy a good inspirational read. There were a few typos that I feel could have been taken care of with an extra read through but still a great book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.